Reserved parking is an idea untested here at Arlington High School, but with the mayhem that is associated with the student parking lot after school, it may be time for a change.

Assistant Principal Mr. Heinz said that the administration hasn’t, “come up with the perfect answer yet, but we keep coming up with ideas and trying them out.”

Currently, in order to park in the student lot at AHS, a student has to buy a parking pass. The passes are given with priority to seniors, juniors, and lastly sophomores and students who will receive their license in the spring. This situation is fairly easy. After purchasing a pass, a student simply has to get to school on time or early to get the spot they want.

But what if a student is late one day, or is a student who is chronically late? Or, more notably, what about students who are late arrival, or are in Running Start or Sno-Isle? Finding a parking spot then becomes a little harder. 

The assigned parking option will allow students to have a certain spot that only they could park in. It would also eliminate the search of finding a spot each morning. Yet while this sounds simple enough, there are certain aspects that would need to be figured out. For instance, what if someone else parked in your spot? This issue is bound to occur, and resolving it could potentially be a problem.

“If you get a crappy parking spot, that sucks,” said senior Marie Gaudin of assigned parking.

Then there is reserved parking. While this option has the same problems as assigned parking, it has more of an appeal over assigned parking. The appeal of reserved parking has is that students would be able to pick the spot they want.

In regards of assigned vs. reserved parking places, Mattea Larson (‘17) stated that “I rather have assigned [parking] because you could pick one [spot].”

This option would also be a little easier to pull off as most students already have a spot that they try to park in every day. Yet while there are students who will be happy with their spots, not everyone will satisfied with what spots are left over.

Devising a parking plan that will work well is not as simple and easy as it may sound like.

“Say no,” said senior Andy Coussens when asked if he would be in favor of assigned parking. “Just say no.”